American Republic Online

Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., was indicted Monday on federal charges of racketeering, soliciting bribes and money-laundering…

Speaker Pelosi had this to say: “The charges in the indictment of Congressman Jefferson are extremely serious. While Mr. Jefferson, just as any other citizen, must be considered innocent until proven guilty, if these charges are proven true, they constitute an egregious and unacceptable abuse of public trust and power.”

What happened to eliminating the “culture of corruption?”

Anyone remember Tom Delay? Delay was indicted for money laundering charges, and resigned from his office. Charges, which, it turned out, took the prosecutor three grand juries to get, and were ex-post facto (that is, applying new laws retroactively).

“We will create and enforce rules that demand the highest ethics from every public servant, sever unethical ties between lawmakers and lobbyists, and establish clear standards that prevent the trading of official business for gifts.”

Remember the “mere appearance of impropriety?”

In interests of full disclosure, we must remember that GOP leaders moved to change House rules that would have allowed DeLay to maintain his post even after being indicted.

Black and white ethics: whoever is in power makes and applies the ethics rules.